Foldable garment support



Sept. 18, 1962 .1. H. WILSON FOLDABLE GARMENT SUPPORT Filed July 8, 1959 INVENTOR. JOHN H. WILSON ATTOENE Y United States Patent 3,054,541 FOLDABLE GARMENT SUPPQRT John H. Wilson, Honolulu, Hawaii (428 Ware, Apt. 352, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.) Filed July 8, 1959, Ser. No, 825,792 2 Ciaims. ('Cl. 223-96) This invention relates to a foldable garment support especially designed for a garment such as a pair of trousers or the like, to be folded thereon and retained in said folded position in a substantially wrinkle free condition.

A primary object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel foldable garment support wherein a garment such as a pair of trousers or the like, may be folded thereon and retained thereby in said folded position whereby said garment and support may be easily accommodated within a traveling bag or the like.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel foldable garment support wherein a garment such as a pair of trousers or the like may be folded thereon and retained thereon in said folded position and in such manner as to prevent said garment from becoming wrinkled or creased.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel foldable garment support as above described, and which may be combined with a coat hanger or the like to thus enable said foldable support to be suspended from a suitable garment rack or the like.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel foldable garment support which incorporates the use of a coat hanger or like structure therewith, and which combined structure is readily adapted to support a suit of clothes or the like or other similar types of wearing apparel.

Other objects and advantages of the foldable garment support of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which it pertains, and upon reference to the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, and which embodiment is herein illustrated in the drawings accompanying this specification and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a foldable garment support embodying the concepts of the present invention, with said support in its open position so as to permit a garment to be folded thereon, and with a coat hanger type of suspension means incorporated therewith;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but with the garment folded onto the garment support of the present invention just prior to the latter being adjusted to its folded position;

FIG. 3 is still another perspective view of the foldable garment support of the present invention, and shows the same in its partially folded position and as normally disposed for suspension by the coat hanger attached thereto;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the foldable garment support of the present'invention in its folded position, being somewhat enlarged so as to show its end configuration; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side view showing the construction of the end portions of the foldable garment support.

Referring now to the drawings throughout which like elements are designated by the same reference character, the foldable garment support of the present invention is herein shown to include a hinge bar or rod preferably of cylindrical configuration and of a length somewhat larger than the width of the legs on a pair of trousers, and a pair of fold bars 13 and 15 respectively.

The instant form of garment support also includes a pair of fold bars '13 and 15 also preferably having the same cylindrical configuration as that of said hinge bar 10 and which are intended to be hingeably connected to the aforesaid hinge bar and in such manner as to be disposed in substantially parallel spaced relation thereto, and thus in position to permit the ends of a garment such as a pair of trousers, as is indicated by the reference character P in FIG. 1, to be folded thereacross in a manner as will be hereinafter more fully described.

For this purpose, with reference directed particularly to FIGS. 1 and 4, each member of a pair of rod members 17 is seen to have a washer-like member 1711 rigidly attached to its one end, said rod member at its opposite end being connected to one end of the aforesaid fold bar 15. Each of said washer members 17a is also seen to be centrally provided with a tube 17b, which is rigidly fastened by welding or the like to one face of said member so as to extend substantially perpendicularly outwardly therefrom. Each member of a pair of rod members 19 is seen to have its one end anchored securely to one end of the fold bar 13, and the remaining end thereof being provided with a right angle projection, as best seen at 19a.

in attaching the rod members to the hinge bar 10, the washer-like member 17a on each rod member 17 is placed against one end of the said hinge bar 10 such that the tube 17b extends into a blind hole 20a formed in the end of said bar, as best seen in FIG. 5.

The rod members 19 are thence disposed outwardly of the rod members 17 so that the aforesaid right angle projections thereof extend through the washer members 17a and into the tube parts thereof. The dimensions of the blind holes 20a, each of said tubes 17b and projections 15a are such that the rod members and hence the fold bars 13 and 15 are swingahle relative to said hinge bar.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the rod members 17 and 19 are preferably of such relative length as to locate the attached fold bars 13 and 15, respectively, at the same distance from the hinge bar 1%, and in parallel spaced relation to the latter, so that with the foldable support in its folded position, said fold bars will tend to compress the material of a garment folded thereon between the same and hence retain said garment on said support.

To fold a garment such as a pair of trousers P on the instant garment support, said garment as is shown at P in FIG. 1, is first laid flat on a suitable table or the like and the foldable garment support is then laid on top of said garment, in its open position with the hinge bar 10 disposed at substantially the center of said garment and the fold bars 13 and 15 disposed on opposite sides thereof and towards the opposite ends of said garment. With the garment support thus located, the ends of the garment P may then be folded upward and around each of the aforesaid fold bars 13 and 15 in such manner as to bring the ends of said garment toward the hinge bar 10, as is best seen in FIG. 2. In this manner, the garment P is folded over the instant garment support in substantially wrinkle-free condition. The surfaces of the hinge bar 10 and fold bars 13 and 15 are preferably smooth as to prevent snagging of the garment as it is placed thereon.

With the garment P thus folded on the garment support, as is herein shown in FIG. 2, either and/or both the fold bars 13 and 15 may thereafter be swung upwardly about the hinge bar 10 and toward the other, or to a position somewhat as is shown in FIG. 4. It will be realized, that as the fold bars 13 and 15 are brought toward one another the garment passed therearound will tend to be pulled taut to prevent any wrinkling thereof, and in addition, as the material passed around said fold bars is compressed between the same as said bars are brought toward each other said folded garment is thereby retained on said support in its wrinkle-free condition.

It is intended to be able to retain said fold bars 13 and 15 in their closed (folded support) position, as is shown in FIG. 4, so that the garment carried thereon be retained in its wrinkle-free condition. For this purpose a keeper element, as is identified by the reference numeral 21, is provided preferably at each end of the said foldable support, and is engageable with the rod members 17 and 19 on each end of said support, and thus efiective to lock said, rod members in their closed (folded support) position.

To accomplish this, each of said keeper elements 21, as is best seen in FIG. 4, has its one end as identified by the reference numeral 21, loosely wrapped around one of the rod members 17 in such manner as to be freely slidable thereon. The opposite end of each of said keepers as indicated by the reference numeral 21b, is seen to be substantially hook-shaped in configuration, and formed as to be, extendable around the companion rod member 19. Each of the said keeper elements 21 is seen to be preferably of such length, so as to be in its locking position i.e., with its hook end 21b around therod element 19 when the fold bars 13 and 15 have been moved to their closed (folded support) position such as indicated in FIG. 2.

Thereafter, with the foldable garment support in its folded position, and the aforesaid keeper members 21 in their locking positions, it will be apparent that the garment support may be readily opened by merely sliding each of the keeper members 21 upwardly along the rod members 17 and 19 as seen in FIG. 4, toward the hinge bar until the rod member 19 is free of the hook end 21b of said keeper elements. Thereafter, either and/or both of the fold bars 13 and may be swung around said hinge bar 10 to a position (open support) such as shown in FIG. 2, in substantially the reverse manner to their having previously been moved to the (folded support) position. With the garment support thus moved to its open position the garment P carried thereon may be readily removed therefrom in a substantially Wrinkle-free condition.

If so desired, the foldable garment support of the present invention may be provided with means to suspend the same from a garment rack or the like to thus provide for the disposition of said garment support after it has been removed from a traveling bag or the like. For this purpose, the instant embodiment of foldable garment support is herein shown to be provided with a suspension means in the form of a coat hanger as is identified by the reference character H, said hanger being securely fastened at its ends to the ends of the hinge bar 10, preferably in such manner as to extend outwardly thereof in susbtantially an opposite direction to that of the aforesaid fold bar 15 and supporting rod members 19, the purpose for which will now be described. With this combined construction, the garment P, when placed on the foldable garment support is first threaded through the opening identified by the reference numeral 25 and located between the hinge bar 10 and hanger H. In this manner, the hanger H is located on the underside of the garment P as it is placed on said support and substantially 4 on the opposite side of the hanger bar 10 relative to the aforesaid fold bars 13 and 15 when said bars thereafter moved to their closed (folded support) position as shown particularly in FIG. 3.

Hence, with the hanger being suspended from a garment rack, or the like (not herein shown), said folded garment support hangs substantially vertically therebelow.

Another important structural feature of the garment support of the present invention relates to the fact that a garment, particularly a pair of mens trousers, may be placed thereon in such manner that the hanger is disposed betwen the fold bars 13 and 15 with the support in its closed position. In this manner, the hanger does not require additional space when packing the support in a traveling bag or the like, and, in addition provides the traveler with a readily available hanger with each garment support.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the foldable garment support of the present invention as is hereinabove described may partake of a different arrangement and/or combination of parts without departing from the inventive concepts thereof as are defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A foldable garment support comprising first, second and third rod members, means connecting said first and second rod members in parallel-spaced relation to each other, means movably connecting said third rod member to one of said connected rod members, said third rod member being movable relative to said one rod member so as to define an open position for said support whereby a garment may be draped over said support with the center portion folded over said one connected rod member and with the opposite ends folded respectively over and around said other connected rod member and said third rod member so as to overlie said center portion of said garment, said third rod member being thereafter movable into juxtaposition with said second rod member, and lock means for releasably retaining said second and third rod members in said latter position effective to retain said garment on said support.

2. In a foldable garment support as is defined in claim 1 and wherein the third rod member is movably attached to the said one rod member and spaced therefrom at a distance approximately equal to the distance between said first and second rod members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 783,175 Cassidy Feb. 21, 1905 1,558,290 Russell Oct. 20, 1925 2,149,144 McLarty Feb. 28, 1939 2,338,401 Bracken Jan. 4, 1944 2,613,769 Stafia u Oct. 14, 1952 2,617,567 Gregg Nov. 11, 1952 2,640,633 Olpe June 2, 1953 2,983,415 Cooley May 9, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 524,848 Belgium Dec. 31, 1953 

